Red Wine & Blue
Red Wine & Blue is a national community of over half a million diverse suburban women working together to defeat extremism, one friend at a time. We train and connect women from across the country of all political backgrounds, including many who have never been political before, to get sh*t done and have fun along the way.
We launched "The Suburban Women Problem" podcast in May of 2021, and after 5 seasons and 1.3 million downloads, we brought the show to an end to pave the way for new podcasts out of Red Wine & Blue. Subscribe and stay tuned in to hear brand new series, starting with "Okay, But Why?"
There's so much happening in politics right now, it’s hard to keep up. It feels like every day, there’s a new outrageous headline. But it’s not always clear why these things are happening. So in this weekly series of short shareable episodes, we’re here to ask… “Okay, But Why?”
When they go low, we go local. We hope you join us.
Red Wine & Blue
Okay, But Why Do We Need Community More Than Ever?
Right now, most of us are feeling stress and anxiety. On top of everything else in our lives, the political chaos seems too much to bear. A 2024 survey from the American Psychological Association found that over 70% of adults consider the country’s future a significant source of stress — and even though we’re only four months into 2025, if our group chats are any indication, we’re struggling now more than ever.
At the same time, there’s an epidemic of loneliness. Former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued an official advisory about loneliness in 2023… turns out, it’s not just bad for our mood, it’s bad for our physical health too. People who are disconnected and lonely are twice as likely to die as people who have strong communities.
The good news is, community connection can help with both of these problems! Not only do social bonds make us healthier and happier, political action is far more effective when done as a group. We all have different strengths and perspectives, and our friends can fill in the gaps when we need a break.
In these chaotic and stressful times, community is more important than ever. It isn’t just good for our hearts and minds, it’s good for democracy. When women with shared values get together, there’s no stopping us.
For a transcript of this episode, please email comms@redwine.blue.
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Okay, But Why Is Community More Important Than Ever?
Clip from HCR: “You know, one of the things we hear from traditional media is that people are isolated, and people aren’t gathering together. And I always say, right out loud, not just under my breath - that’s because you’re not in the right places.”
Narration: This year has been rough. For many Americans, our anxiety was already high after a stressful election season, rising prices, book bans, the fall of Roe v Wade, and a pandemic that wasn’t that long ago – not to mention caregiving for our children, elderly parents, or both.
Now, with political chaos at an all-time high, many people say they can hardly bear to even look at the news. In Red Wine & Blue’s Facebook group SWEEP, we ran a poll and more than half of women say their mental health is hanging on by a thread.
“Political chaos is sapping my life force,” one member told us. Another said she’s finding that normal activities feel wrong or out of place, even activities that are supposed to make her feel better. “If your house was on fire,” she said, “would you run out and get a pedicure?” Many women are having trouble sleeping and one even said she had a full nervous breakdown after the election and is still recovering. We’re worried about Medicare and Social Security, climate change, attacks on voting rights and minority groups, and about our neighbors or friends being deported. And we are definitely worried about our kids.
In 2024, nearly 60 million Americans struggled with their mental health, with increases in conditions like anxiety and depression. And a 2024 survey from the American Psychological Association found that over 70% of adults consider the country’s future a significant source of stress. We’re only four months into 2025 so far, but if SWEEP and our group chats are any indication, we’re struggling now more than ever.
Okay, so… what can we do about it?
Of course mental health is a complex and personal thing, and if you’re able to access mental health care like a therapist, that’s the first place to start. But there’s something else that can help too - an antidote to the loneliness epidemic and the powerlessness we feel when we look at the news. And that something… is community.
We know that humans are social creatures. Community is a basic human need that’s as essential to our survival as food or shelter. As a species, we’ve thrived because of our ability to connect with each other. Many anthropologists believe it’s why our brains are so big and why we survived over our ancient cousins like Neanderthals. We can communicate with someone we’ve never met about a shared goal and work together to accomplish it. It’s kind of amazing when you think about it.
In 2023, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued an official advisory about loneliness. Turns out, it affects more than just our mood – it’s bad for our physical health too. It’s bad for heart disease, stroke, dementia, diabetes, blood pressure, and our immune systems. People who are disconnected and lonely are twice as likely to die as people who have strong communities. Twice as likely, can you believe it?
But community connection isn’t just good for us as individuals. It’s strategic too! Every time we’ve won a victory for social progress, it’s been because a whole community of people got together and decided to do something. Even powerful leaders weren’t standing alone - Rosa Parks, for example, wasn’t just a tired woman who didn’t want to give up her seat. She had been working with civil rights groups like the NAACP for more than a decade by the time she was arrested for refusing to move to the back of the bus. "It takes more than one person to bring about peace,” she said. “It takes all of us."
We all have different strengths - maybe you’re a social media maven, or great at making signs, or talking to legislators, or planning a protest, or writing a newsletter, or even running for office! And there’s too much happening to fix every problem ourselves - sometimes we need to take a break. And again, this isn’t just self-care, it’s strategic. Connie Schultz calls it “holding the note.”
CLIP: Connie Schultz: “We've used the metaphor before about holding the note as they do in choirs and bands. When there are long notes, you can't sing all the way through and we do staggered breathing. And sometimes it's gotta be your turn to take a breath and we'll hold the note until you return. And the more we think like that in a sense of community and holding one another up and keeping one another strong, I think the more readily perhaps we will allow ourselves that moment, that time to take a breath.”
Narration: For all those reasons and more, here at Red Wine & Blue we are all about community. When you get together with other women, you can make friends that carry you through the tough times. You can hear diverse perspectives and learn who in your local area needs your help. You can cry together and laugh together - because joy itself is an act of resistance. As Heather Cox Richardson said at one of our events this year,
CLIP: HCR: “Authoritarians cannot rise if there are strong communities and people are acting with joy.”
Narration: And if you don’t already have a political community in your area, you can check out our program TroubleNation! It’s a network of over 700 grassroots groups across the country and they’re making real change - in their local town, at a national level, and everything in between. Do you want to support your local library? There’s a group for that. Want to stand up for reproductive rights in your state? There’s a group for that too. And if you can’t find a group in your area, we can help you start one! Just go to redwine.blue-slash-TroubleNation.
Every day, we hear from members who say that taking political action with other women has made them feel energized and given them hope. Like a SWEEP member who said that joining a TroubleNation group is what’s getting her through right now. “Which is very weird,” she said, “because l'm a definite introvert...but being with like minded patriots has been my saving grace.”
In these chaotic and stressful times, community is more important than ever. It isn’t just good for our hearts and minds, it’s good for democracy. When women with shared values get together, there’s no stopping us.
Sources
https://www.carelonbehavioralhealth.com/perspectives/mental-health-crisis-america
https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/buffalo/health/2025/03/19/genevieve-glass-template-083024
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/humans-evolved-to-be-friendly/
https://www.thesocialcreatures.org/thecreaturetimes/evolution-of-social-connection#:~:text=It%20is%20as%20important%20as,individuals%2C%20but%20as%20a%20species.
https://public3.pagefreezer.com/browse/HHS.gov/02-01-2024T03:56/https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/surgeon-general-social-connection-advisory.pdf
https://www.statista.com/chart/30995/biggest-health-concerns-among-americans/
https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2023/01/24/parenting-in-america-today/pst_2023-01-24_parenting_00-01-png/